minorities. in some cases the courts have been able to stop them. it's the old dirty scam of winning elections by keeping your rivals from getting out their vote. if you can't win the hearts and minds of voters, shut the window. come up with the latest technique to shut down their voting opportunities. the continued talk and tv ad about welfare recipients, obama being a food stamp president, the filibuster to shut down the first african-american president and the continued talk by people like donald trump of this birtherism nonsense. shameless. that's the word for it. it's the program of the party of abraham lincoln for 2012, do you believe it? i don't think he would be very proud of this stuff. it's incredible so many are. it's no way to win an election. that's "hardball" for now. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. >> thanks, chris. and thanks to you for tuning in. i'm live in columbia, south carolina. part of our continuing fight

against republican efforts to suppress the vote. today is national voter reg rags day and we'll be talking about that later. but we begin with tonight's lead. it's the policy, stupid. more evidence the romney campaign is in deep trouble, support sagging in poll after poll. the candidate continuing to commit gaffes. but today mitt romney put a brave face on all that and after bill clinton introduced him at an event, today he actually cracked a pretty funny joke. >> if there's one thing we've learned in this election season, by the way, it is that a few words from bill clinton can do a man a lot of good. all i got to do now is wait a couple days for that bounce to happen. >> yeah.

hey, what about my clinton bounce? yeah, i don't think that's going to happen, governor. here's what president clinton said today about your tax plan. >> we know what governor romney says, which is that his proposal for dealing with the debt is first to make it bigger by adopting another round of tax cuts, but he says he can do that without raising taxes on the middle class. i'm not sure that's possible. but he wants to defer until after the election saying what the specifics are. i think that ought to be a little bit of a red flag. >> there are red flags all over governor romney's policies. red flags for middle class voters. red flags on medicare. red flags on the handling of the economy. and all of that is adding up. just take ohio, where governor romney and congressman ryan, his running mate, are campaigning

today. a republican has never won the white house without winning ohio. but here's their problem. they're losing it by eight points. not only that, they trail president obama by seven points among ohio voters on the economy. the problem isn't just mr. romney's indifference to 47% of the country, it's his policies for everyone. like his trickle down ideas, or his laughable tax rate that he thinks is fair. voters don't care for these policies and neither does their president. >> governor romney on "60 minutes "was asked, does he think it's fair that he pays a lower tax rate than somebody who's making $50,000 a year. and he said yes. i think it's fair and i also think that's the way you get economic growth. the notion being that if people

at the top have more income, they'll invest and they'll create jobs. i've just got a different vision about how we grow an economy. i think, barbara, you grow an economy from the middle out, not from the top down. >> that middle out policy is already working. today we learned that home price jumped to their highest level in more than two years. consumer confidence is at its highest point in seven months. because of optimism about the job market. voters see this, but the gop doesn't. republicans just love to talk a lot about how our president doesn't understand america. but they're the ones who don't understand america. not if these are the policies they're running on. joining me is steve kornacki, co-host of "the cycle" here on cnbc, and democratic strategist,

advising wayne powell, the democrat trying to unseat house leader eric cantor. thank you for coming on the show tonight. >> sure. >> great being here. >> good to see you, mud cat. steve, let me start with you. romney's clearly not the best candidate, but aren't his policies, or lack of policies, isn't that what really is dragging him down? >> yeah. i mean, i think he's constrained by two forces here. when you look at the question of policy specificity. the first is sort of where his party is on an array of issues. the republican party sort of, the base of the republican party, and when you look at demands of its candidates is particularly far to the right. the gap between where the republican party is and where the average general election swing voter is, i think is wider than usual this year. so, on any given issue, if romney really expresses the base's message there's going to be a bigger gap than usual

between where he is and where the rest of the public is. the other issue when you start talking about taxes and economic policy really boils down to this. the more specific romney gets, the more it will enable democrats to make the case that romney represents no change from the last republican to be president. such a big -- >> i think that's where we're starting to see the problem, because if he gets specific, he reminds every one of the bush era that many americans feel led us into this problem. if he doesn't get specific, then he gains no traction and if he gets specific, mud cat, the right wing and the far right he's trying to placate starts examining so he's between a right hard rock and a right hard place. look at the fact in florida he's

losing by four points. it's not just ohio. in florida romney's down four points. how narrow is romney's path to victory at this point, mud cat. yo you're a political strategist. how narrow is that path to victory? >> i think it -- i think it's very narrow at this point. you were talking about trickle down economics. you know, everybody i know doesn't believe now that water runs uphill. and to say that money runs downhill to me is just as preposterous. i think the main problem that the republicans have is they're stale. if you look at what they're talking about at this campaign, it's the same thing they were talking about when lee atwatter introduced politics in 1980. they have not changed anything. they're going to the wedges, god, guns, gays, however. all they want to talk about is taxes and all they want to talk about is how bad the government is. i voted for ronald reagan in

1980. i do have a disclaimer. i was drunk that day. but he made -- you know, ronald reagan, one thing he did was he made people distrust their government. and really a lot of people hate their government. because of -- >> now, mud cat, let me ask you a question. let me ask you a question. i didn't want to cut you off. but i have to get to you because i don't want to run out of time on you and steve. i've been waiting all day because i knew you were coming on. i've looked at the polls and i understand group after group the president's establishing a commanding lead. latinos up 45 points. he leads women by 19 points. catholics by 15 points. all of them i could understand given the policy positions of this campaign. but here's one that is right down your alley to explain to me. romney is losing the nascar

base, the nascar base. obama leads romney 49-42 among nascar enthusiasts, according to the new zogby poll. can you explain that? >> because thurston howell doesn't drive a car. it's that simple. nascar is a down home sport. elitism is not tolerated. its roots go to rural america and rural america -- look where i'm from, hillbillies, hillbilly land. i told many people we're ego maniacs with inferiority complex. we tell people we're great but in our hearts we may not believe it. elitism, that's what it's about. who can feel anything in common with mitt romney? and, i mean, he just doesn't connect with that world. as far as any marketing that they're trying to do in nascar,

it's a waste of time. >> now, steve, is that the problem, the feeling of elitism? he is not the kind of cozy, likeable guy, and then on top of it, his posture and his policy smacks of elitism across the board to a lot of americans that don't usually agree on a lot of politics? >> yeah. i mean, we've seen evidence of this already this year. we saw evidence of it as far back as the republican primaries, the south carolina primary where romney lost by 15 points to newt gingrich. a big reason for that is that it was a lower income. it was working class and middle class republicans in south carolina flocked to gingrich and revolted against romney in that primary. it was gingrich they were calling him, you know, a vulture capitalist, that was a term used. they fullmented a backlash among

romney in working class republicans. we're seeing evidence of that now. there was another poll out this week that looked at white working class voters talking about keys for obama. obama is doing quite well for working white class voters except in the deep south and appalachian, he's getting blown out there, but in places like ohio he's doing well there. romney is not someone you can really sell to thoez those voters very easily. >> we'll have to leave it there. steve kornacki, mudcat saunders, and i know mudcat is working on his campaign. we have to talk about that at sam point, mudcat. thank you for your time. >> we need to talk about taking that crook out and we can do it. aircraft can tore can be beaten. in fact -- thank you. >> all right. and thank you. hi to let you get your plug in.

also let me plug steve on "the cycle" weekdays at 3 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. thank you, both. governor romney's 47% problems just got worse. wait until you hear what bill clinton said today. and senator scott brown's staffers caught on tape, doing an offensive tomahawk chop at elizabeth warren supporters. i want to know where his apology is. and scott walker is siding with unions. yes, you heard me right. we're throwing the penalty flag on him tonight. all that, plus 42 days to go and the obamas are having some fun in new york. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. >> we're very happy you came on with us, mrs. obama, and brought your date. >> i brought him with me. he had a few minutes in his

schedule. >> you know, i told -- i told folks, i'm just supposed to be eye candy here four guys.

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voters, but a new poll has them trailing obama by eight point. earlier governor romney tried cozying up to bill clinton, but clinton says romney's caught on camera moment will be a problem for romney in the october debates. >> if he's going to double down on that 47%, that will cause difficulties because we now know that the overwhelming number of those people work and have children. >> over a week later, and that secret tape still hurts. joining me now is msnbc contributor and author megan mccain and democratic strategist

tad devine, senior adviser for kerry and gore campaigns. thank you for joining us. >> good to be here. >> tad, let me start with you. it's been over a week since the tape came out. the president, joe biden, now bill clinton are all still hammering. how damaging is this 47% comment? >> reverend, i think it was terribly damaging. what happened with that tape was after months and months of the obama campaign in battleground state after state, running ads and telling people that mitt romney doesn't care about them, mitt romney came forward himself and confirmed those attacks. there's nothing more devastating and nothing more powerful in the minds of voters than to hear the words out of a candidate's mouth. i think this is a big moment in presidential politics that's a turning-point moment. i think people will remember it all the way to election day. i think after the election they're going to look back and say this is a point when romney hurt himself and hurt himself badly.

>> megan, is there any way he can get out of this? i mean, he's even done what we thought he wouldn't do, released a little more of his taxes. not much. and still he can't seem to turn the page. what do you think he needs to do, if anything, that you think he could do? >> yes. i mean, of course whether the media likes it or not, this is not the nail in the coffin for the romney campaign and many national polls that have governor romney and president obama in a statistical dead heat. what he needs to do from here is stay on message and make a fantastic performance in the upcoming three debates, the first on october 3rd. >> and what message should he stay on? i'm not clear i'm understanding what message he's trying to give. >> keep emphasizing the economy, stupid, how bad the economy is. we're in a $16 trillion deficit, unemployment remains over 8%. these are the things that matter to the american people above all else. that's the message governor romney needs to stay on. >> yeah, but doesn't he need a policy and a plan? i mean, doesn't he sound stupid himself saying it's the economy,

stupid, but i'm not going to give you a plan of what i'm going to dough abo about the ec until after i get in? i mean, i understand the slogan is, it's the economy, stupid, but we're not that stupid. >> obviously, that's an old coined term. >> yeah, i got it. >> but this tape, i think it was taken out of context. has it been damaging? i can't sit here and say this tape was good for the romney campaign but statistically it doesn't seem to have as great an impact as the media was saying. i think it was a mistake and taken out of context and i think the american public has to decide if it matters to them or not. >> tad, let me explain to you what joe biden said in virginia today as he took on romney on this 47%. look at this. >> he attacks 47% of the american people who he says pay no federal taxes. and he attacks -- he, romney, attacking someone on taxes?

that's like me attacking someone for being passionate about politics. >> and even chris christie, the keynote speen at republican convention, he said they've had a bad last week and they've got a lot of ground to cover now. he says, i'm quoting him, we had a bad week. if the election were going to be held tomorrow, that would be a problem but there's a lot of ground to cover in the next 42 days. i don't know how you put a good light on this one. >> well, it's going to be hard. listen, the republicans are running for cover. peggy noon is saying it's calamitous. former political director of the republican party in iowa said that if ryan wants to run after this campaign, he's going to have to get rid of the stench of mitt romney.

i mean, these are things -- don't oeven to want say this, okay? all you have to do is repeat what the republicans are saying about mitt romney to understand just how devastating his mistakes have been. to understand the problems he's having in the campaign. by the way, i don't think that tape was taken out of context. i think what that tape did was provide a context for voters. voters understand now that the mitt romney behind closed doors is, in fact, the same mitt romney they've been seeing in the obama ads. someone who doesn't care about them and someone who will not put their priorities first if he is elected president. >> well, meghan, respond to that. what context could he have possibly meant that you think he was taken out of context? >> first of all, the paul ryan quote u the stench quote, is an alleged quote. i think he was talking about the broader appeal with the tax system. i think governor romney -- i just think it was taken out of context and it's easy for the media to spin something, a short

clip of a youtube video when gov knorr romney explained what he meant. the election is not over. what we need to concentrate on, there are 42 days left and i'm much more concerned about what's going to happen between president obama and governor romney in the next upcoming three debates than in a youtube video on the internet. >> but if he says 47% of america won't take responsibility and, in fact, says, in effect, they're freeloaders, doesn't that speak to the core of who is going to be the president if you vote for him? >> yes. >> what could be more important than that? >> no, i agree with you. i am just -- listen, are these -- what do you want from me? i'm telling you these weren't great statements by governor romney. i'm telling you there is still time for his campaign to turn things around. >> all right. let me ask you, ted, and meghan is right, we have not confirmed the statements made on politico were, in fact, made by -- as

they said, but conservatives do seem to want to hear more from paul ryan. the head of the conservative club for growth told the new york times, quote, the romney ticket would be well served to let paul ryan be paul ryan. is that a way to get out of this, is to unleash ryan more? >> well, i hope so. i mean, sarah palin said romney and ryan should go rogue. i think if they follow her advice, it would be as successle for them as it was for her. the conserve tifrs talking about letting ryan go is to try to cover their tracks. they're basically going to say, romney, if he loses, it's because he was a bad candidate. really the reason they're losing is not that romney is a bad candidate. they're losing because their ideas are bad. making medicare a centerpiece, their economic plans to protect the rich at all costs. those are the failed policies that i think are dooming romney and ryan more than anything they've done in their campaign.

>> all right, meghan mccain and tadd da vine, thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you. still ahead -- a vicious new right wing attack is comparing president obama to the nazis. you only see this kind of stuff when republicans get desperate. but first, the nfl controversy that's exposing some gop hypocrisy. turns out scott walker and the rest love unions, or at least they love union referees. that's next. hungry for the best?

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we're back with the story everyone is talking about today. a football game is uniting everyone from president obama to paul ryan. here's what happened at the last of the seahawk/packer game. >> wilson scrambles to keep it alive. the game's final play, a wilson loft to the end zone which is fumbled by tate with jennings simultaneous. who has it? who did they give it to? touchdown! >> but this official here, jerry, goes up and signals touchdown and the other goes for the signal you would give for an interception, correct? >> or a touchback, yes. >> this is the most bizarre

sequence you'll ever see at the end of a game. >> the refs completely blew the game. they called it a touchdown. everyone else in the world disagrees. but here's the real controversy. the refs are replacement referees. they're working while the real refs are locked out in a labor dispute, fighting to protect their pension plan. here's how bad the nfl pr problem is. both political parties agree on something. today president obama tweeted, nfl fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon. and ball rypaul ryan agrees. >> did you guys watch that packer game last night? i mean, give me a break. it is time to get the real refs. >> but time-out.

i'm calling offsides on this next one. wisconsin governor scott walker tweeted, after catching a few hours of sleep, the packers game is still just as painful. return the real refs. scott walker wants the real refs back? the governor who defines union bashing, collective bargaining, who smashed massive protests. the refs training and experience make them better qualified than nonunion workers. i'm throwing the penalty flag on scott walker tonight. it's a personal foul. he's offside on this one. did he think he could earn some cheap points with the home crowd? nice try, governor. but even those replacement refs would get this call right. we got you. than a traditional ? at legalzoom you get personalized services for your family and your business

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they say you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps. and the company mitt romney's keeping tells us he's getting desperate for votes. the new york times reports mitt romney is cozying up to ralph reed, in order to win over christians. ralph reed was investigated bit fec for violating federal campaign finance laws in elections throughout the 1980s and disgraced for his ties to lobbiest for jack abramoff. then went on to court the evangelicals. for bush campaign.

how is reed doing it? his faith and freedom coalition is blitzing evangelicals with mailer like this one of obtained by mother jones. it scares up the christian right by asking them questions like, how much danger do you think liberty is in right now as a result of president obama's policy. more serious than the threats we faced in world war ii from nazi germany and the japanese or more serious from the soviet union during the cold war, or more serious than the american civil war? and what is president obama's true political ideology, they ask? is he a socialist, a communist or a fascist? this is what mitt romney is reduced to, relying on ralph reed to send out questionnaires

like this to scare up the base? but make no mistake, romney's glad to stand behind his man. >> ralph has been a real champion in fighting for the fundamental values that have made america the nation it is and i appreciate the work he has carried out over these last years to build a stronger sense of commitment to community and to the principles of freedom that define america. >> mitt romney appreciates all that work that ralph reed has done. i wonder if voters will feel the same way. joining me now is msnbc political analyst richard wolffe, the author of "revival" and frank schaeffer for huffington post and author of "crazy for god."

thanks for being here. >> thanks. >> frank, how does a mailer like this rile up the evangelical right? >> i have to say ralph reed got into politics because he saw a film series i produced in the '70s with my father and c. everett coop that got a lot of evangelicals into the anti-abortion movement. there's a connection here. unfortunately, ralph reed is one of those opportunists who has hitched a ride on the multibillion dollar evangelical corporation, you could say. so when romney actually thanks him for doing so much for america from the republican point of view, that's a logical statement. for instance, with abramoff and the casino scandal, when you look at them, this kind of desperation move of bringing ralph reed in, the only question is, you know, do they release bernie madoff next to raise money? this is the bottom. we're scraping the bottom of the

barrel. have i to say on behalf of many evangelical christians won't go for this. they know ralph and they know who he is. is he a discredit to the word christian, let alone the world evangelical. i don't want to use his name to paint evangelicals as if they're all in his camp. they are not. this will fail. it's a desperation move. he's a petty operative who cashes in on every opportunity. >> well, richard, ralph reed was on fox last night talking about his work and how he's going to get the evangelical vote out. watch this. >> we've engaged in a massive voter registration effort. we believe we're going to be able to increase the evangelical turnout from the 2008 baseline by an average of about 7%, and when that happens there's going to be a lot of shocked faces in news rooms all across america.

>> richard, the vote he's talking about, evangelical vote in 2008, 26% of the electorate identified themselves as evangelical, 73% voted for mccain. that could be a significant vote. >> well, it's not clear if he's talking about seven points high or 7% higher. i don't know what states he's thinking about either. you know, the critical question here is, not just whether you can believe someone like ralph reed and whether his operations really work. it's also in a way the tactics involved. we know from extensive polling as well as anecdotally and culturally that evangelicals don't favor a mormon candidate, to be blunt. but what he's trying to do, if this mailer is any indication of his tactic, is drive up, not a reason to vote for mitt romney, but the reasons for voting against president obama.

now, that's an interesting dynamic that i think the whole republican get out the vote operation really hinges on. we just don't know other than in 2004 for democrats how well the negative drive, getting people out because they hate an incumbent is as strong to get people out to vote for someone. i'm all for people getting out to vote. the question is, how successful can you be with this kind of message? >> well, richard, it seems like it's not just reed -- let me go to frank on this, richard. there seems to be others doing this. it's really getting nasty. sarasota herald tribune, for example, ran this severely anti-obama ad sunday, paid for by a group called the government is not god political action committee, which falsely claimed on the ad, among other things, that president obama will force

courts to accept islamic shariah law in domestic disputes, that he will force police agency to allow muslim brotherhood to select staff. i mean, this is some ugly stuff. >> yeah, it is. it's what ralph reed and the religious right and right wing of ivevangelicals have made a habit of all the way back when they accused john mccain of having an illegitimate black child. the worst part of that accusation is, oh, this child is black. the kind of folks who go for this only have one thing against barack obama, that he's black and not a republican conservative. those two things in that order. all the rest is window dressing. when you get to this segment. and so someone like ralph reed is the kind of person i'm talking about in my book "crazy for god" who has sold the republican party down the river. i used to be a republican. the republican party is not my

republican party of jack kemp who you could disagree with his policies but he was not a hate monger. ral john mccain called ralph reed and people like him agents of intolerance. and he had it right. there's a scum bottom-dwelling creature here that has been part of american politics a long time. always on the wrong side. always on the side of the ho homophobes, the hate mongers. he comes up again like when you're car sick. if the ivevangelicals that go f him, bad for them. most know who he is and they will not be swayed by his hate-mongering and asking if obama is worse than hitler. they've seen all this before. it's getting old. he's a loser. he lost for every single person he's worked for recently except for george w. bush, who then got

us into a war we didn't need and spent $4 trillion. so much for the track record. you know, forget ralph reed. he's just a hate monger and he's doing it again and it's always for money, as we found with the abramoff scandal. like you said, you might as well bring bernie madoff out of republican to raise money for the republicans. it would make just as much sense. >> richard, beyond ralph reed, there's a hateful campaign going, full of things that are factually wrong. buzz feed had anti-obama movie called "dreams from my real father," played to swing states like ohio, claiming president obama's real father is an object cure african-american communist and has been mailed to 1.5 million voters across the

country, its creator told buzzfeed friday. >> is this all it got, really? this is what they've tried to do in 2008? none of this is new. there's a straight line from what we're seeing now and what we will see over the next month or so and what we saw in the lalt stages of 2008, what we even saw in the late stagings of the primary phase of 2007 and '08. there's no disconnect there. it's a continuous line. but you cannot introduce new rumors about someone who has been in the nation's living rooms for four year. and expect anyone but the hard core to believe them. so the people who think this president is a foreigner or a muslim or whatever else they're trying to imagine and create and concoct in their own sick minds, that's what they believe anyway. they are preaching to the converted. that's a waste of dollars for conservatives in general, for whatever groups -- >> i'm behind this. >> i have to leave it there, richard, richard with wolffe and

frank shaef eithf either, thankr your time tonight. coming up, republican scott brown is refusing to apologize after an offensive tape featuring his staffers hits the web. if we want to improve our schools... ...what should we invest in? maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ...nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education.

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state's right dealing with voter suppression, dealing with health care. they are saying we don't care what federal government says. we have our own rules for voting. >> it's national voter registration day and this morning i spoke at a forum here in south carolina as part of the network voting engagement tour. i'm here working with the congressional black caucus to draw attention to republican efforts to suppress the vote. the latest chapter in the story of state's rights. south carolina is one of the states pushing back after the federal government blocked this new law for violating the voting rights act. in fact, over the last two years, 17 states have passed restrictive voting laws.

in a democracy, we should want more people voting, not less. but some republicans think different. joining me now in south carolina, the one and only congressman jim clyburn, assistant democratic leader. congressman clyburn hosted the big event this morning. huge turnout. i thank you for being on the show tonight. >> thank you so much for having me. and thank you so much for being here with us. >> and you had students, young people with a lot of enthusiasm in the room. why do you think there is this effort, though, with voter i.d. and other methods to suppress the vote? >> well, i think that after the 2008 elections, those people who felt that a different outcome would have been preferable, decided to double down on trying to make sure that president obama become a one-term

president. now, they were not content to leave it just to the politics or just to, i would say, the policies. they have decided to go out, and they did it in 2010, and put in place new legislatudg legislato governors, and ensure a victory for vemsz by suppressing the vote, denying access to the polling places of those people who they felt were responsible for providing the margin of victory for president obama. it is a shameful thing. those 17 states that enacted the laws, another 17 have introduced laws. 34 states where these laws have been introduced. it's not about the south anymore. pennsylvania, ohio, states where president obama needs to be stopped if they are going to be successful this year. >> now, they're claiming fraud.

tom fenton, president of the right wing group pushing voter fraud paranoia. watch this. >> i fear the obama gang is setting themselves up to steal the elections, if possible. the obama people want everyone registered through the department of voter vehicles or public assistance or food stamp office. he wants to register the food stamp army to vote for him. >> food stamp army? >> well, you know, it's a saying that after all of these years of having our democracy mature, to get these people, like that, come onto the scene and trying to undercut the growth, the development that this country has gone through over the last almost 100 years, and to see us come to a point where you have these friends groups, just

manufacturing controversy, doing stuff that they know is simply not true. and filling up the air waves with stuff that's inincindiary against the president. the president is running a good campaign, he laid out things for the people, reform health care, reform education, get us out of iraq, give 95% of the american people a tax cut. he has done all of those things. and these are the things that the majority of americans say they wanted. >> now, let me ask you this quickly because we're running out of time. you are number three democrat in the congress. not just the caucus, but in the congress, period. yet you stay here as a civil rights activist. does this remind you of things you fought growing up? >> oh, lord. growing up in the '60s, i grew

up in the '50s as well. i've been around here a long time. when we fought back in the late '50s with trying to get school integration going, then trying to get civil rights -- >> i have to have you hold it there. we're out of time. thank the kids at benedict college in allen. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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the massachusetts senate rate is getting very ugly. new video posted online shows supporters of senator scott brown mocking elizabeth warren for claiming a native american heritage. the video shows people performing the tomahawk chop and making war cries. even worse. a boston tv station has identified some in the video as brown's staffers. including his own deputy chief of staff.

this all comes just days after brown himself raised the issue of warren's heritage at their debate. >> professor warren claimed she was a native american, a person of color. as you can see, she's not. she checked the box claiming she was a native american. and, you know, clearly she's not. >> brown is making personal attacks, because he's losing on policy and in the polls. today instead of apologizing for his staffer's offensive behavior, brown doubled down on his message. he said, quote, that's not something i con dome, but the real issue here is -- and the real offense is the fact that professor warren checked the box. it's no surprise these vial attacks come as brown finds himself trailing in four of the last five polls. i trust voters in massachusetts will